MSNBC pulled its left-leaning talk show “Morning Joe” from the air on Monday following an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump over the weekend.
The progressive show, hosted by Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, will not air Monday morning and will resume Tuesday, despite the start of the Republican National Convention.
A source familiar with the matter told CNN that the show was pulled to prevent one of its dozens of guests from making an inappropriate comment while live that could paint the show and network in a bad light.
The source told CNN it made more sense to instead continue to roll breaking news coverage.
“Given the gravity and complexity of this unfolding story, NBC News, NBC News NOW and MSNBC have remained in rolling breaking news coverage since Saturday evening,” an NBCUniversal spokesperson told CNN.
Cesar Conde, chairman of NBCUniversal News Group, made a joint decision to pull the show Monday morning with MSNBC president Rashida Jones, Scarborough and Brzezinski, the source told CNN.
The progressive MSNBC morning show’s hosts have made their election views clear.
Brzezinski opened the show the Monday after President Biden’s disastrous debate performance with a 15-minute monologue in defense of the incumbent.
During that broadcast, Brzezinksi attacked Trump’s bid for the presidency. She said the choice between Biden and Trump is “one terribly bad night versus a decade of destruction to our core beliefs, our democratic values and yes, our Constitution.”
She framed Biden and Trump as “a man slowed down by a cold versus a man with a cold, vile and merciless heart.”
Trump called for unity after the shooting at his Butler, Pa. rally.
“In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand United, and show our True Character as Americans, remaining Strong and Determined, and not allowing Evil to Win,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Everything we know about Trump assassination attempt
- Former President Donald Trump was targeted by a shooter during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania
- Trump’s face was grazed by a bullet during the shooting
- The gunman and one bystander have been killed
- President Biden addressed the nation and referred to the shooting as sick, saying he “tried to get ahold of Donald”
- Exclusive: First photos of Thomas Matthew Crooks emerge after assassination attempt
- Donald Trump urges the nation to not let ‘evil win’ and to ‘fear not’ after shooting
- World leaders condemn ‘political violence’ at Trump rally: ‘Can’t take anything for granted’
Keep up to date with The Post’s live blog on the assassination attempt on Trump
But many other Republicans have blamed Dems’ own piercing comments about Trump for the act of violence – in which 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks took aim at the former president from a nearby roof while Trump spoke on a campaign stage.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) was a victim himself in 2017 when a gunman opened fire during a Republican congressional baseball team practice. He was in critical condition after the mass shooting and suffered from broken bones and internal bleeding.
“For weeks Democrat leaders have been fueling ludicrous hysteria that Donald Trump winning re-election would be the end of democracy in America,” Scalise said in a statement. “Clearly we’ve seen far left lunatics act on violent rhetoric in the past. This incendiary rhetoric must stop.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) accused the Democratic party of trying “to murder President Trump” in a post on X.